


College AU drabbles

by Demon_Calcifer



Series: Drabbles and AU ideas [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I want my boys to be happy, M/M, The college drabble no one asked for, basically only fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-09-12 06:43:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9060112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demon_Calcifer/pseuds/Demon_Calcifer
Summary: Keith likes his college life, he might also like his roommate. But that is a different story





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is a repeat chapter

Keith unfurled himself slowly, easing out his tense and aching muscles, stretching out into the cold of his dorm room. The air outside his blankets was cold, colder than Keith would have liked but it was early December so there was nothing he could do but turn up the heat. Retreating back into his bubble of warmth he fished blindly for his phone. The screen light was bright even behind Keith's eyelids, peeling one eye open to look at the screen the time read 6:30 am. He’d gotten a shaky five hours of sleep, seeing as he stayed up just past one to study for up and coming exams. Keith hated to study last minute, it stressed him out too much. 

Closing his eyes Keith wished he could go back to sleep, but he was awake now and laying down much longer would make him twitchy. So with one last heat wrapped stretch Keith got up. It was cold but tolerable so Keith made his way to the kitchenette. Okay, maybe it wasn't really so much as a wall dedicated to miscellaneous appliances. An old desk held a microwave, plug-in kettle, a multipurpose griddle, slow cooker and rice steamer, metal wire shelving that held in turn a great many things, and utensils and plates in the drawers. Sitting beside it was a slightly beat up mini fridge. 

Pulling out his favorite reg mug Keith turned on the kettle and filled his mug with hot choco powder as he waited. He wasn't big on coffee or tea, everyone assumed he was but it was hot chocolate for him till the end. His roommate loved tea though, maybe a little too much he thought as he rummaged through the horde of tea boxes, Keith picked one titled ‘Rose Hips’ and placed the bag in the familiar blue mug. It was pale blue and square, which Keith would never get over, and covered in cobalt cat prints. The low roilling rumble of the kettle cut off and Keith poured hot water into both mugs. With his steaming mug of powdered choco Keith sunk into his oversized bean bag chair. The material was chilly but it quickly warmed under his weight. Watery and weak sunlight struggled in the sky to illuminate the morning, so the room was dark. Choked out night blue put a filter over everything, leaving the world with a look like it was under water. 

Keith was half way done his cup when an alarm screamed into the silence. Beyonce wailed on repeat while Keith’s roommate fished for his phone. Then the singer was abruptly cut off and groggy groans shortly followed. 

“Lance, I’m hungry. Pancakes.” Keith was rewarded with a drawn out moan as Lance curled up tighter in his bed. “I made you tea, it should be just right by now.”

“Sugar?” 

“Four scoops, just the way you like it.” A hand peeked out and Keith watched it make a grabbing motion.  _ Moron. _ “It’s on the counter. Get it yourself.” A disgruntled snort came from the lump on the other bed, but Lance soon sat up, bedhead and all. Then stumbled his way to the kitchenette, making semi inappropriate noises while he drank. 

“Lance pancakes.” He whined, Lance made the best cinnamon cakes and tried to get his roommate to make them as often as possible. 

“Alright, alright. Give me a minute.” It had taken a while, three fourths of a semester to give an estimate, for the two young men to come to a tentative arrangement. And tentative doesn't even begin to describe how fragile it was, one thing could set either off and it took lots of trial and error to find a balance each could agree on. Lance usually made breakfast while they were on their own for lunch and dinner was mostly made by Keith. They split groceries evenly though they counted on care packages from their families for some of the better stuff. They learned real quick that washing their laundry together was much cheaper to every other weekend they would trade off. They shared a bookshelf because quite frankly it was easier to share than deal with a messy room and if one was staying up late to study to use a desk light. There were others as well but most went unspoken, a kind of mutual benefit to cohabitating. The bathroom was a perpetual war zone though.  At first each would lock the door when they used it but that soon became unacceptable (within days). So the new rule was to not talk or look at each other while in the shower, the only time one was allowed to lock the door was if you were using the toilet. Each would take up no more than half the sink space (“I don’t care how little I have Lance I am not having twenty creams to sort through first thing in the morning”). And as along as the balance was maintained it wasn’t so bad. 

“Keith put milk on the list would ya?” 

“Kay.” Finishing off his now lukewarm choco Keith got out of his bean bag and over to the dry erase board they kept on the inside of the door and added milk to the list of things to pick up tomorrow. “Anything else before I hit the shower?”

“We’re running low on flour and sugar. How is the honey situation looking?” Keith scribbled the two extra items onto the growing list. 

“Fine,” he called back. “I haven’t been using it much.” Then Keith paused to rub the last bit of sleep from his eyes. “Want do you want to eat tonight?” The sizzling of butter on the griddle filled the thoughtful silence. 

“I think we should order out,” Lance turned to look at Keith over his shoulder. “You have that big assignment coming up in aeronautics right?”

“Shit,” Keith had forgotten about that, mostly because he hated presenting but also because he was convinced his professor hated his guts.  “Pizza then?”

Lance nodded turning back to the task at hand. 

“I asked Hunk and Shay to join, so they’ll chip in so we can get lots. I may even be able to convince Hunk to spring for bread sticks.” 

“Sounds good,” And it really did. Hunk was smart and even though they didn’t have class together Hunk was still willing to help them study. With that Keith pulled out new clothes and his faded red towel, he really liked the color red okay, and hit the shower. Knowing Lance would be done by the time he got out. 

The water out of the pipes didn’t seem as warm but then Keith usually took extremely lukewarm showers, unlike Lance who, when Keith walked in, swore Lance was trying to start his own sauna. Ten minutes later, it only even took that long ‘cus Keith had so much goddamned hair, Keith emerged fresh and ready to take on the day. If not starving and the scent of delicious cinnamon wafting throughout the dorm didn’t help. But he was grateful to find a plate with a generous stack of pancakes waiting for him on the old desk, right next to the half full bottle of cheap fake syrup and butter. Fishing out a fork from one of the drawers Keith took his breakfast back to his bean bag. They were even still warm, today was starting out almost perfect. Across the floor Lance was half passed out in his own bean bag, pancakes finished and mug tightly clasped in both hands. 

Keith liked the silence, it wasn’t awkward just… companionable. Just two guys being comfortable with each others presence. It wasn’t something Keith would have ever thought he’d have, it had always been just him and Shiro for as long as he could remember.   
Shiro had told him stories, of how his mom had met a nice man and got married, then after what felt like a blink of an eye, he was born. A chubby happy baby boy that would scowl at almost everyone. Shiro refused to details but their father had left, and their mom had to work so much that they were often left alone. And one night, it was snowing and the roads were icy, on her way home she was hit by a drunk driver. The doctors told them that she hadn’t suffered but that didn’t lessen the pain. Keith tried not to act out, he really did but when the other kids would talk about his older brother Keith couldn’t help himself. Shiro worked hard for the both of them, they got help from grandparents Keith had never met but it was mostly on them to get by. And now things were finally looking up, Shiro had found someone who made him really happy and was happily working. Keith was working his way through college, the same one Shiro had graduated from, and making his brother proud. But probably best of all for him was the fact that he had real friends, people he could fall back on go to when he needed them. He smiled into his half finished breakfast, the daylight streaming in from the small window, strong and clear. This was peace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I caught a word error :'( sorry guys


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Christmas chapter if you will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy winter holiday! Hope everyone is warm and happy

Lance was pouting, he had just got off the phone with his mom and the rest of his family exchanging holiday greetings. Last night a huge blizzard rolled in and swamped everything with snow, all the roads were shut down and no planes could fly in the endless snow. So with all flights cancelled neither of them could leave the dorm building, so Lance pouted much to Keith's chagrin. 

Since the Cuban boy had been planning on leaving for the break they didn't bother putting decorations up since Keith would have been by himself. He had been planning on spoiling himself on homemade real hot chocolate for Christmas, like way too much hot choco to be healthy and sit around watching shitty movies on Netflix or watch some anime. He'd heard something called Yuri!!! On Ice was supposed to be good but you could never really tell when shows got that much hype. 

Luckily for the both of them Keith had gone grocery shopping just hours before the cold white hell descended upon them. So they had plenty of food to last them until the weather cleared enough to get more. Though it was mostly going to just be spicy curry, Keith even splurged on some good quality beef (he was really spoiling himself this Christmas, though if he didn't once and awhile Shiro would worry and fuss). 

Keith snuck a glance over at his roommate. Lance was still pouting while he lay over his unkempt bed, phone held loosely in his hand. It had been a solid fifteen minutes since Lance even moved or made a sound and Keith was honestly starting to worry. With a time check it was only just past ten, still plenty of time before he had to prep for dinner. 

“Hey um….” Keith had no idea where he was going with this. “Did you want some hot chocolate? I'm making it from scratch?” Nothing, silence for what felt like taffy stretched minutes but we're probably only a few quickened heartbeats. 

“Maybe later.” The sigh of a response was quiet enough to miss if Keith hadn't been so focused on the other boy. Keith didn't know how to respond so he just worried at his bottom lip. He couldn't just do nothing so he turned on the electric kettle and made Lance a cup of his favorite black tea in his favorite square mug. 

A lot of this in the dorm were brought in but shared, the sugar container was one of the things Lance had brought with him and in it was a baby formula scoop. When Keith questioned this originally the only response he got was, “I don’ know. My family had a lot of kids in succession so we used whatever was around and it just kinda….stuck.” That was enough for Keith because he never questioned it afterward and just used it instead of his spoon. It worked just fine so why not. 

Lance took three scoops of sugar in his tea, it was a wonder he wasn't made of sugar with how much he consumed but that's how he liked it. Just like how he liked most things, tooth achingly sweet. Quietly Keith placed the full mug on their shared nightstand and went back to the kitchenette to make himself some cheap powdered cocoa. Well it wasn't the usual cheap stuff, he decided since it was a special time of year that he could have some of the stuff Lance bought him as a birthday gift. He'd only drunk it once before, on the day he received it, and upon seeing Lance smiling like a fool when he said he liked it Keith swore to make it last as long as possible. 

Keith drank slowly, artfully slumped in his oversized bean bag chair, savoring every scalding sip until it became a pleasant warmth that spread throughout his stomach. He must have been really caught up in his few social media sites because he didn't notice Lance wasn't sulking anymore until he got up to go to the bathroom muttering about why he had to have the biggest mug he could find. At least he was feeling a bit better, Keith conceded to himself. When Lance came back out he looked much better. 

“What's for lunch I'm starving.” Keith could only roll his eyes.

“I don't know you probably have some leftovers or there might be some dinner left over. You know lunch is fend for yourself.” Lance scowled but slunk his skinny ass to the kitchen wall. “But don't touch the beef or chicken I'm using it in the curry for this weekend's dinner.” 

“Will it be spicy?” 

Keith shrugged. “I bought three different peppers and plenty of them so yeah, it'll be spicy.”

“Yes!” Lance hissed, doing an over exaggerated arm pump. Curry was one of those things that Lance didn't like sweet and had expressed on numerous occasions that he thought Keith's curry was the best. Keith promptly hid the rising flush in his cheeks into his dwindling cocoa. “Then how about crepes for lunch?” Another of those sickly sweet foods Lance loved so much. 

“Sure. Chocolate banana for me, easy on the whipped cream please.” 

“Comin’ right up.” And they spent the next hour or so in blissful companionable silence, if you asked Keith. But in typical Lance fashion he got stir crazy, pacing around the room, an honest attempt at his upcoming assignments, and whining. 

“Lance, for the last time,” there was an edge in Keith's voice he couldn't quite hide. “I'll start dinner in an hour and no it's only been two minutes since you lastly asked.” Lance huffed, clearly unhappy then rolled onto his stomach, sprawled out on the little available floor space. Keith had felt bad for him until every move was processed by a zillion questions, it wore on a person and Keith didn't have much patience to begin with. “Why don't you start a movie? It's like your go to.” A muffled sigh. 

“Yeah but it's Christmas and I usually do stuff with family and friends.” Keith could only hum in acknowledgement. What else could he do? He doubted Lance thought of him as a friend, just someone in the room while he slept or someone he cooked for occasionally or someone who cooked for him. Nothing special. 

“I'm sorry.” There, that was the best thing he could come up with. 

“UGH! Don't say sorry. Just stop being busy so we can watch something. Anything!!!” 

Wait, what? 

“What?” Keith's brain was having trouble processing the words that for him clung desperately between them. 

“You've been busy.” Lance stated like he was offended Keith wasn't spending time with him. “You've been working on your assignment that isn't due for like another month and you've been reading. Well rereading, I've seen you read that book at least three times this semester. So I've tried to be patient and wait but it seems like you don't want to spend time with me.” Then Lance pouted. An honest to god, child like upset, pout. It was adorable.

“I didn't know you wanted to spend that kind of time with me.” Now it was Lance who hummed. But it was quickly followed by a disbelieving scoff, again sounding like he was offended. 

“Dude, you are my friend. Why wouldn't I want to spend time with you?” Now it was Keith's turn to make some kind of disbelieving sound, though he wasn't sure what it was. 

“Oh well….if you let me put the stuff in the slow cooker we can watch something.” 

“Really?!” Keith nodded. “Sweet! Let me set stuff up.” Lance then scrambled up off the floor pushing his bean bag up against Keith's and grabbing the blanket from his bed. It was hard to keep looking at the task at hand when Lance was being so cute. But eventually Keith turned on the slow cooker, made himself and Lance a hot drink, and settled into his bean bag next to the swaddled boy. “Thanks. So what should we watch?” 

Keith shrugged. “I don't know. Whatever you want to, I don't really have a preference.” 

“Hmm, then do you mind watching Project Runway? I never get a chance over the holiday and Hunk always falls asleep.” 

“Sure but only if we can watch an anime I've been meaning to watch. It's supposed to be really good.” Lance seemed to really consider this proposal. 

“Deal.” And that was that, they two boys settled down to watch people scream and cry over making clothes. 

They were well into their tenth episode when the distinctive call from Skype. The nametag read Mamá. 

“Answer it, I'll go check on the food.” Keith got up and left before Lance could say anything and went to fill the kettle again. Excited fuzzy voices filled the small dorm and Keith understood why his roommate loved and missed being around them. 

“We miss you mijo, how have you been holding up?” 

“I've been fine ma. Keith and I have been staying out of the cold.” 

“Do you have enough to eat? It's snowing something furious out there.” 

“Yes ma-” But Lance was cut off by a voice that sounded distinctly older, though not by much. 

“It's the weekend so they must be having that curry Lance is always raving about.” 

“I do not rave about it!” Lance stammered but it was Keith who blushed, grateful that he was facing away from the goings-on. 

“Don't even try lil bro, you always go on and on about how Keith's curry is the best you've ever had and-” 

“Alejandro stop.” Lance hissed 

“Why?” Keith could practically hear the smirk in their tone. “Is he there right now?” 

“What? Lance you bring that boy over here right now so I can get a good look at him.” Keith risked a peek over his shoulder and was rewarded by the sight of Lance squirming, a dusting a pink on the tips of his ears. 

“Fine fine,” he consented. “Keith come meet my family.” So he did, retaking his place next to Lance he previously occupied. The sight on the screen was one to behold, there must have been at least ten people on screen with more moving across the background. And the face smack in the middle of the screen was round, tan, open and unmistakably where Lance got his smile. Not the cocky shit eating grin but the soft genuine one, the one that made Keith's heart jump. 

“Hi.” Wow well done for your first impression, he thought to himself. 

“Hello Keith, it is very nice to meet you. You may call me Mamá or Rosalina, whichever you prefer.” A new, younger face popped into the corner of the screen. 

“Is that Keith? He's too handsome for you Lance.” Now that did make him blush, Keith could feel it rise up the back of his neck but tried to keep a neutral face. Lance, on the other hand, was a different story.

“I...He...We aren't...I mean…” he stuttered. Hands that usually flailed about were clasp tightly in his lap. 

“We aren't going out.” Keith supplied, hoping he didn't sound despondent. 

“Kataline that is not appropriate. Keith forgive her she has no filter.” Like someone else he knew. “But tell me, why are you not home for the holidays?” 

“Well my parents are very busy so I haven't spent the holidays with them in a very long time.” 

“Oh conejo, lo sento. I'm sorry, if you don't have plans next year you can come spend the break with us.” 

“Mamá!?!?!?!?” Lance's voice went up an octave. 

“Lance,” his mother snapped back. “This boy doesn't spend Christmas with his family think about how that makes him feel. And besides, you do go on about his curry, maybe if he was so inclined he would make it for all of us.” It was Keith's turn to squeak. 

“On no ma’am, I couldn't impose on your family like that.” The woman laughed, it was like honest to god silver bells. 

“Nonsense darling, we'd be happy to have you and I've only ever heard Lance speak so highly of Hunk’s cooking before so I'm sure it must be very good.” 

Keith couldn't help it, his face broke out into what felt like the goofiest grin. 

“Then I'd like that very much if you'd have me.” 

“Of course conejo, you are welcome whenever you-” a thundering crash overtook whatever Rosalina was going to say next followed by a tense, heavy silence. Then the feed was cut off. 

“Mom?” Lance's voice was heavy with concern. “Mamá is everything okay?” But not two seconds before Lance was going to call back his phone went off, it was from someone called hermano. After reading it Lance slumped back into his chair, as if boneless. “One of my cousins dropped a large dish. That's what that was, no one was hurt but there is a big clean up so they'll call back tomorrow.” 

“Well that's good.” Keith was relieved that no one was hurt but internally, way deep down he was freaking the fuck out. “But what was that that your mother called me?” 

“What, conejo? It means rabbit.” Keith wrinkled his nose. 

“Why would she call me that?” 

“Well it's a term of endearment in Spanish and I also had a….” Lance trailed off, throwing an arm over his face. “My family used to have a bunny that was white with black ears. Only the ears, so you might have reminded her of it.” 

“Oh,” that was interesting. “Well I like it, I never really had a nickname growing up so it makes me feel special.” 

“So um… wasn't there something you wanted to watch?” 

“Oh yeah let me serve the curry first then we can watch it.” 

“Nice, about time food was done I'm starving.” 

So they ate and they watched all twelve episodes of Yuri!!! On Ice, both tearing up on the last episode. Even Lance agreed that it was the purest romance even-though-it-wasn't anime he'd ever seen. And Keith never said it out loud but he would hold this memory of him and Lance spending Christmas together forever, even if they spent the next one together. This one would always be special. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. Lance totally had that bunny when he was younger, he loved it so much. His mom knows what's up. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short

Wednesday was the worst, you’d think it was Monday but no it was Wednesday, the day his shitty Psych professor gave a shit ton of work. Keith didn’t mind doing the work that wasn’t even close to the issue, no the problem was having to write a three page minimum paper with at least five printed sources. Keith hated papers with a passion so intense it instantly burned him up and left him exhausted. And this particular hump day was even more horrible, not only was he tasked with another Psych paper but he was called in last minute to sub for someone at work. He’d made it by the skin of his teeth and worked straight through lunch, settling for a Monster and some gross fast food on his way back to campus. The library was quiet but even that didn’t do much for his mood, it was still cold and snowing when he walked back to his dorm in the flurrying darkness with unnecessarily heavy books causing him to slip on ice patches. Keith was thoroughly not happy. 

Shivering and wet Keith slid into the foyer of the dorm building, it was bright but not quite as warm as he would have liked but it was exceptionally better than outside. Shaking snow off as he climbed the stairs to the third floor Keith wanted nothing more than to suffocate himself in his pillow. 

Entering the dorm Keith found the lights still off, Lance wasn’t home yet. The chill settled to his bones and Keith shivered again, god it was so cold. So with no more thought than breathing Keith bumped his bag onto his bean bag and stripped off his damp clothes down to his boxer briefs and left them in a gross pile to be dealt with in the morning. Keith crawled under the covers and plugged his phone into it’s charger and left it on the nightstand, he would be fucked if it was dead in the morning. Keith groaned into his pillow as his body slowly warmed under the thick quilt, he might be annoyed with it in the warmer months but right now it was amazing. And soon as his muscles relaxed Keith was out, gone, lost on the sea of unconsciousness and never so grateful for it. 

Something woke Keith, he didn’t know what it was because nothing was happening around him that would wake him. It was quiet and dark and warm, no reason for him to be awake so Keith didn’t think too much on it and was well on his way back to sleep when there was a soft but noticeable bump on his bed. Was that what woke him? Then the sound of rustling fabric and a tickle on his cheek. What the fuck? Keith rolled over snuggling further into the bubble of warmth of his bed. But then there was shuffling and the tickling sensation on his face again. Keith was not happy, he was grumpy tired as he peeled one eye open and was met with Lance’s face much to close to his own. On a normal day he might get a bit flustered and playfully push Lance away while telling himself not to think too much about it. Lance was a touchy person by nature and he didn’t mean anything by it so Keith knew it meant nothing. But right now, in this every moment however, Keith was not happy with his roommate, so he shut his eye so hard his face scrunched up.

“Keith,” Lance’s voice barely even a whisper. “Keith you awake?” 

Well he was now.  

“What do you want Lance.” Keith croaked out, eyes still firmly shut in hopes that Lance would go away and the few claws of sleep still holding him dragged him away. No such luck.

“Let me sleep in your bed.” What? Keith pried his eye open once more to look at Lance, was he serious? 

“You have a perfectly fine bed, sleep in your own.”

“But Keeeiith,” Lance whined. “The buildings heat broke and it’s cooolllldddd.” Keith grunted and pulled his quilt over his face. “Keith please.” Maybe it was something in Lance’s voice, or the fact that some part of him knew Lance wouldn’t stop bugging him until he said yes or even that he was too tired to argue but Keith gave in. 

“Okay,” Keith groaned. “But if you’re going to be sharing my bed I don’t want to be awoken until my alarm goes off, is that clear?”

“Crystal!” And with that Lance climbed in as Keith made room for him, well, as much room as there was on a twin and the two settled down. “Hey Keith?” Keith grunted. “Thank you.” Keith’s chest warmed and it wasn’t just from the additional body heat. 

“Don’t touch me with your cold feet.” Keith breathed, more asleep now than awake. 

“Okay mullet, just go to sleep.” But Keith didn’t need to be told and he was basically out even before a warm hand smoothed over his hair and neck. 

When Keith woke up next it was morning. Pale light streaming through the window and the sound of Lance’s soft breathing was surreal. Keith stared unabated, taking the rare chance to carefully roam over the beautifully dark features. The sharp contrast of his nose and cheekbones against his soft and long lashes, the way his chocolate hair hung around his face and the soft curve of his neck. Lance took great care of himself and it showed. 

For the first time in a long time Keith didn’t get out of bed when he woke up, instead he stayed right there in that moment. Lance’s arm slung over his waist and face buried haphazardly into the pillow. And Keith would never admit he allowed an asleep Lance to pull him closer, never admit he smiled as he nuzzled into that surprisingly broad chest, and never admit he wished this could last so much longer. And Lance would never admit he had done it all on purpose. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome but please don't be upset with me if I don't respond...

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: Feel free to ask questions, I am more than happy to answer them :)


End file.
